Winter Coat from the Movies

Picture taken from the set of 'The Holiday'

The best thing about the Winter is the time cozied up on the sofa watching all the Christmas movies and Rom Com's to my hearts content.  There's something about the season that particularly makes them a joy to watch.  I also find that the character wardrobes are utterly inspiring and makes me want to jump on the sewing machine and knock myself up something equally wonderful.

For years I have coveted the wardrobe of Cameron Diaz's character in 'The Holiday'.  It's a stunning collection of clothes, of which I have for many years lusted after.  In particular, I love the Brown Shearling Dior coat that she wore on her arrival at the holiday cottage.  A coat that I found was sold for a mere $700!


So I thought it would be an interesting project to try to re-create something similar.  I couldn't find a pattern that met the exact requirements, but I found Simplicity Pattern S9015 that would make the perfect base for hacking.

For the first time in my life I created a toile.  I'm very lazy when it comes to doing this for dress patterns, but as I was making large adjustments to the coat, it was a necessity to ensure the fit I wanted:
  • First of all I wanted a fitted coat vs. the loose fit of the pattern
  • I wanted a decorative waist band and matching sleeve cuff - which meant I had to split the pattern pieces up
  • To reduce the boxiness of the coat I also wanted the ends adjusted to a curve for a more flattering fit
  • I also shortened the length and raised the positions of the pockets; this coat pattern was definitely designed for someone taller than my mere 5'4"

The material I used for this coat was a Sherpa bonded Felted Black Wool from Mood Fabrics.  It was a joy to work with and to play with.  Because the Sherpa was bonded, I was able to pull it apart to create some decorative elements on the outside, but also to use it to hide some of the seams on the inside.


As you can imagine there was a lot of hand sewing that went into this.  But overall I was chuffed with my version of the Sherpa Coat.  I'm definitely going to be snug as a bug in a rug this winter.


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